The Chains We Wear
by BotheredAsh
Summary: "Go take a swan dive off the roof and hope for a better quirk in your next life." Izuku feels those familiar chains wrap around him, taking his free will. He starts to walk out of the classroom, past Katsuki and his gang. He feels the tears he was holding back fall from his eyes and down his face.
1. Chapter 1

Also cross posted on Ao3

Don't own My Hero Academia

੦

"Why do you have to be so mean, Kacchan?" Izuku trembled as he stood in front of his classmate. "Can't you see he's crying?"

Katsuki punched his hand and a small explosion went off. "You don't even have a quirk. You shouldn't go around thinking you're a hero, Deku."

Katsuki and his gang closed in, little explosions lighting his hands. Bakugo takes the first punch, and Izuku can feel pain bloom across the left side of his face. He tries to kick back, but Bakugo is already out of reach.

The boy to katsuki's right steps forward with a laugh, "Just stand there and let us beat the crap out of you!"

Izuku feels his body stiffen as what feels like chains coil around him. _What's Happening?_ He thinks. _My body won't move._ His arms aren't obeying him.

The three boys come in with more punches and kicks, but Izuku is stuck standing there, taking them without doing anything. Hit after hit Izuku feels more pain.

Katsuki and his two lackies step back, starting to get tired from their barrage.

"Why won't you go down?" He asks, a scowl on his face. " Just fall down already!"

Izuku feels the chains holding him pull him to the ground.

The boys look startled. Izuku hadn't fallen down at all while they were punching him. His mind was racing, what the heck was happening to him. It was like something else had taken control of his body.

Izuku looked up at Bakugo from where he was on the ground. He could see ideas start to form behind his eyes.

"Deku," Katsuki addressed him, "Get up"

The chains pull at him, keeping him from moving of his own accord. His arms put themselves under his body to push himself up. Soon enough he's standing again and the chains fall away.

"Walk in circles." Again his body moves but he's not the one moving it.

He sees Katsukis face light up with a wicked grin.

੦

Izuku makes it home some time later, walking into his house to see his mother in the kitchen finishing up dinner.

Midoriya Inko turns around to see her only child with bruises and scrapes all over the visible parts of his body.

"Izuku, Baby! What in the world happened to you?" She asks, kneeling down in front of him to look into his tearful eyes.

"Mama…" He says in a voice that just about breaks Inko's heart, "I got my quirk..."

੦

Izuku didn't want to jinx his luck or anything, but he thought his morning was going pretty well. He's caught the tail end of a villain fight, the debut of Mount Lady, and had even gotten a command that he was happy to receive.

He put his earbuds back in his ears, having taken them out for the villain fight. The sound of his playlist blasted in his ears, drowning out the sounds of the town, while he made his way to school.

As Izuku made his way onto campus, he made sure to turn the volume up on his music, covering up the commands of his school mates. He'd learned a long time ago that if he didn't want to be made to do anything embarrassing or worse, he'd have to make sure he couldn't hear them at all.

He thought back to when his quirk first manifested. Right after Izuku had told his mother what happened, she had insisted that he wear noise cancelling head gear until they could figure out exactly how his quirk worked. Not that that actually helped around katsuki and his gang.

Izuku didn't turn off his music until he was safe inside his classroom in front of his teacher.

As he sat down at his assigned desk he pulled out his phone to browse hero news sites while he waited for homeroom to start. Mount Lady's debut was already making a big splash.

"Alright everyone, take your seats," The teacher says as the bell rings. Izuku puts away his phone as attendance starts.

"So," his teacher starts, "Now that you all are third years it's time to start thinking seriously about what you want to do with your lives. I'd pass out aptitude tests, but you're all planning to go into the hero course aren't you?"

The room explodes with noise and usage of quirks. Izuku slumps forward in his seat, trying to look as small as possible.

"Yes, yes, you all have great quirks, but using them at school is against the rules" the teacher tries to reign in his students.

"Don't lump me in with these extras, Teach!"

Bakugo Katsuki had been his best friend as a child. Right up until Kacchan got his quirk and started making fun of him. Izuku didn't get his quirk for another two years. The doctor had told him he should give up on being a hero, that a late quirk was a sign of having a weak one. If only that had been the case.

"I don't plan on making friends with people with weak quirks," Katsuki states, kicked back in his seat with his feet on the desk. Some of his classmates don't take kindly to Bakugo's input.

"What do you mean by that, Katsuki?" One kid asks, offended.

"Yea, Bakugo, you can't call us extras!" Calls another.

"Shut up, you extras!" Katsuki yells back, clearly undeterred by his classmates protests.

"Bakugo, you were planning on taking the Yuuei exam, weren't you?" the classroom breaks into whispers about how hard it is to get into Yuuei.

"Yea! And I'm gonna be the only kid from this shitty school to get in!" Bakugo is on top of his desk now as he shouts. " And then I'll even surpass All Might and be the highest ranked hero of all time!"

"Oh yea, Midoriya wants to get into Yuuei too, right?" His teacher said, thoughtlessly, not aware of the wrath of Bakugo Katsuki that he'd just brought down on Izuku.

The classroom goes quiet for a second as every student turns to look at him before it erupts into laughter and jeers.

An explosion goes off right in front of him as Katsuki closes in. Izuku is flung out of his seat by the power of the blast aimed at his desk.

"Deku!" He has backtrack towards the back wall of the classroom to keep away from Bakugo's explosions.

"You don't even have a useful quirk, so why are you putting yourself on the same level as me?"

"Huh?" Izuku asks as he gets pushed further back into the wall, "No Kacchan, I'm not trying to compete with you at all. It's just been my dream ever since I was little, and even though I don't have a useful quirk, I can still try, can't I?" His words tumble out of his mouth in his nervousness.

Katsuki gives him a glare and a sneer. "What are you capable of anyway?"

Izuku stands there for another second to regain his composure. The teacher is already regaining order as he walks back to his seat and rights his desk.

੦

_I can't wait to get home so I can write down all the stuff that happened this morning._ His hero analysis notebooks had been the only constant outlet for his thoughts for a very long time now.

Izuku listened to the mindless chatter of his classmates as they grabbed their stuff, getting ready to leave for the day. He himself already had his backpack on and was just about to pick up his notebook when it was snatched off his desk. He looked up and sure enough, it was Bakugo.

"I'm not finished with you, Deku," Katsuki told Izuku as his gang started to circle around the smaller boy.

"What is that, Katsuki?"

"Pffft! 'For the future', Midoriya? Seriously?"

"Give it back!" Izuku crys.

Bakugo blasts the notebook between his hands, a scowl on his face.

"That's cruel, Kacchan…" He mumbles out as Katsuki throws the notebook out the window.

"You know, most top heroes have stories about them from their younger days. Most people look at them and know they are destined for greatness," Bakugo carries on, "When I'm the only kid from this shit school to get into Yuuei, people will start talking about me like that."

Bakugo walks up to him and places a steaming hand on Izuku's shoulder. He shudders and prays he won't have to tell his mother how he got another burn.

"You should just forget about passing the Yuuei exam, you useless nerd," Katsuki tells him with a nasty smile on his face.

"You should at least try to make a comeback," One of the other boys calls as Bakugo's gang starts walking to the door.

"Don't say that. He's pathetic, he can't even face reality," The other says.

Izuku can feel anger and shame rushing into his system as they continue to make fun of him while walking towards the door.

Katsuki stops at the threshold of the classroom and looks back at him and Izuku can feel dread well up inside of him. _What more could he possibly have to say to make me feel worse. _Izuku thinks.

"You know," Katsuki started. "There might be a way for you to be a hero after all."

_No Kacchan… Don't say it…_ He thought, feeling the sting of tears start to enter his eyes.

"Go take a swan dive off the roof and hope for a better quirk in your next life."

Izuku feels those familiar chains wrap around him, taking his free will. He starts to walk out of the classroom, past Katsuki and his gang. He feels the tears he was holding back fall from his eyes and down his face.

The chains that bind him are impossible to break, but Izuku tries anyway. _I don't want to die. _His mind starts firing similar thoughts at almost light speed as his feet start to climb the stairs that he knows lead to the roof. _Kacchan… I know you didn't mean it…_

੦

Katsuki can hear his pulse pounding in his head. He knows his anger got away from him.

_Shitty deku, _he thinks to himself, _believing he can be a hero. I'm gonna be the only hero from this school._

The conversation plays itself back in his head as he makes his way out of the classroom. The look on Deku's face as he passed by them stuck in his mind.

_Go take a swan dive off the roof… _It's stuck in his head.

_Go take a swan dive off the roof…_

Katsuki's eyes go wide. He forgets all about the boys next to him and starts running up the stairs to the roof, taking them two at a time.

He bursts through the door to the roof just in time to see Deku climbing onto the edge with his arms out, parallel to the ground he's standing on.

He starts to tip forward and Katsuki knows there's no way that he will get to Izuku in time

"Izuku! Stop!" He howls.

Izuku's body has already tipped forward past the point of no return, his toes still barely attached to the edge of the roof. But he stops. He looks like he's being suspended in the air.

Katsuki doesn't know what's just happened, but he sags in relief, as Deku starts to cry out in front of him. Tears that he won't admit to run down his face.

"Oh my god! What's happening?" He hears Izuku exclaim.

Katsuki walks over to where Deku is just hanging over the roof and pulls him back over solid ground into his arms.

He can feel Izuku's tears wet his shoulder, but can't care enough to stop him at the moment.

"I'm so sorry…" Katsuki tells him, tears still flowing from his eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

Katsuki hadn't let go of his hand at all on the walk back home, practically dragging him along the sidewalk. He had even insisted on taking Izuku all the way to the front door of his house, though not in so many words. Or any words at all.

He knew Katsuki was feeling really guilty about what happened and was probably beating himself up over it. It didn't matter how many times Izuku told him it was okay, that he knew he didn't mean it.

He thinks back to what happened on the roof. When they pulled away from each other, Katsuki had demanded to know what happened. Izuku didn't have answers for him, he was just as confused.

It was strange, what happened on that rooftop. _It doesn't make sense. _ Izuku thought to himself. _It defied all laws of physics and gravity._

**Flashback**

_"Izuku! Stop!" He heard from behind him. His body froze how it was: which happened to be over the edge of a building, almost parallel to the ground three stories below, with only the tips of his toes touching the very last possible solid surface._

_He was hanging in mid air!_

_Understandably, Izuku was freaking out. Even more so that he just escaped death._

**End Flashback**

Katsuki pulled him up the steps to his door, let go of his hand and stomped back down the stairs and towards his own house a couple blocks away.

Izuku made his way inside his house, stopping in the genkan to take off his shoes setting them beside his mothers. He continued into the main room where his mother was busying herself with tidying up the house.

"Oh, Izuku, Honey," She called to him as he walked into the room, "How was your day at school?"

Izuku pondered for a moment whether he should tell his mother what happened on the roof or not.

"It was fine, Mom," he started after a moment of indecision, "Nothing really interesting happened. I'm gonna go to my room and start on my homework before dinner, alright?"

His mother smiles at him. "Alright, Dear. Just let me know if you need anything."

Izuku escapes to his room. He doesn't like lying to his mother, but he really doesn't want her to worry about him.

He quickly changes his clothes and sits down at his desk grabbing a brand new notebook out of a drawer. Pencil in hand, he outlines everything he knows about his own quirk on the very first page.

Name: Midoriya Izuku

Age: 14

Quirk: Submit

Is forced to comply to any order given to him. Has to hear the order for it to work, and the order has to be directed at him or a general order towards multiple people, including him.

Mortal danger does not stop quirk from working.

Sitting back in his seat he peers at all that he's written down on the page. Thoughts of earlier today swim through his head again. The way he was suspended in the air like that, it made him think of all the different reasons it could have happened.

_Kacchan told me to stop and I stopped, _Izuku thinks. He writes down another sentence about his quirk.

Defies physics?

He pulls out his cell phone and opens up his messaging app.

**Me:**

**kacchan i need a favor**

**Kacchan:**

**just because of what happened today doesnt make us friends shitty nerd**

Izuku gives a little huff. _Says the boy who held my hand the whole way home._

**Me:**

**pls kacchan? youre literally the only person in existence i can ask**

**Kacchan:**

**the fuck do you want?**

A sigh escapes him, relieved that Katsuki is at least willing to hear him out

**Me:**

**i want you to help me experiment with my quirk**

**Kacchan:**

**no**

**Me:**

**you seriously have never had a problem with it in the last 8 years**

Izuku rolls his eyes. He knows that Katsuki is probably refusing because of what happened today, but he did really need his help.

**Me:**

**Please. You are the only one that can help.**

**Kacchan:**

**fuckin fine but that doesnt mean we are friends**

A small smile crops up on his face. _There was a point when we were._

**Me:**

**thanks alot kacchan meet me at the beach near here after you eat lunch tomorrow**

**Kacchan:**

**ya ya whatever**

੦

The beach they meet at is overflowing with trash and other random things that people have been leaving there for years. As a consequence, no people could be seen for the whole stretch of wasted land. The perfect place to experiment with a quirk without getting caught.

Izuku is already there when he sees Katsuki stomp down the sidewalk towards him. Notebook in hand he heads over to intercept him.

"Alright, you shitty nerd. You dragged me all the way out here. Now what?" Katsuki growls.

"Now," Izuku says to him, "You tell me to do some things and we see what happens," He passes his notebook into the other boys hands. "Please don't blow this one up."

Katsuki gives him a frown.

"Whatever," He tells him, then turns away towards the piles of garbage on the beach and makes his way down closer to the shore.

As Izuku hurries to catch up to Katsuki, he casts his eyes around the area. Mountains of trash and forgotten possessions tower above him. Passively, he wonders how beautiful it looked when it was clean and devoid of rubbish.

He stops next to Katsuki, who is looking out over the water with his lips pulled down into a frown.

"What do you want to do first?" Katsuki asks as he turns to face him.

Izuku looks around and spots an old dilapidated truck stuck in the sand a little ways away. It would be an easy climb to its roof.

"I'm gonna climb on top of that truck there and then jump down. I want you to tell me to stop."

Izuku made his way to the vehicle and lifted himself into the bed, making sure to watch for any possible hazards, then pushed himself onto the roof. It was only about a two meter drop, so it would be relatively harmless if things didn't work out.

"Okay Kacchan, on the count of three I'm gonna jump down. Tell me to stop before I hit the ground," He says to Katsuki.

"Whatever, Deku. Just don't break your bones. I dont wanna have to carry your ass all the way back home and tell Auntie what happened." He retorts with a scowl.

"Alright," Izuku starts getting ready to jump. "One… Two… Three!"

Izuku's feet leave the truck's roof and for a fraction of a second feels weightless before gravity starts to pull down on him again. Then he hears the order.

"Stop!"

The world freezes. Or it seems to anyway. His body is suspended, stuck in mid air, as the order takes hold.

Izuku throws a grin at Katsuki.

"It worked," He declares.

"Well. It looks like you're not so useless after all," Katsuki mused with an equally large grin, "Now drop, Nerd."

Basic physics becomes a thing again and Izuku is only just prepared enough to fall back to the ground feet first before falling back onto his butt.

Izuku looks up to see Katsuki right in front of him, his hand thrust out for him to grasp onto. His face is turned away, lips pursed.

"Can you get up…?" Katsuki asks, "You didn't hurt yourself, did you, shitty Deku...?"

Tears burst from Izuku's eyes. He knows that this is Katsuki's apology, even if it wouldn't sound like that to anyone else.

"Stop crying, you Nerd!" Katsuki shouts.

The tears dry up instantly, but Izuku doesn't mind the order. He laughs and grabs Katsuki's still outstretched hand.

He's hauled off the ground and Izuku puts on a serious face.

It's time to get back to work.

੦

Izuku made it home just in time for dinner. His mother asked him how his day was and they had a pleasant conversation over stir-fry vegetables, fish, and rice.

He makes it to his room shortly thereafter siting the need to do some research for an essay. Izuku logs into his computer and starts researching training programs for aspiring heroes.

Katsuki had brought up a good point earlier when they were experimenting on the beach. He'd have to find a way to combat villains that knew about his quirk. This, of course, was after he'd been told to pick up the truck they'd used for their first experiment. The vehicle had felt like nothing as he raised it above his head.

Izuku knows he needs to learn to fight bad guys without the use of his quirk.

੦

It's four A.M. when Izuku wakes up to take his morning jog. Almost 2 weeks of waking up at this ungodly hour and his body is just starting to get used to it's new schedule.

His mother had been surprised when he told her he wanted to start training to be a hero. Large tears had started to seep from her eyes as she hugged him and told him how proud she was of him for not giving up on his dream. She then agreed to cook according to the meal plan he picked up off the internet.

Izuku rubbed the sand out of his eyes as he got out of bed. He walked over to his closet, reached in blindly and tugged out a shirt and track pants.

After getting dressed Izuku quietly made his way out into the main room of the house, making sure not to disturb his mother from her sleep. Slipping into the kitchen, he grabbed a protein bar and made his way to the genkan stopping for only a moment to put on his shoes and then he's out the door.

His usual route was to go up through his neighborhood, past the trashed beach where him and Katsuki had taken to experimenting in, and back around to his house. It was about a three kilometer circuit.

His jog started out as normal, up until he got to the stretch of road by the beach. Looking over, he sees an almost skeletal looking man on a bench. Izuku watches as the man coughs into a handkerchief, which by itself wouldn't have been so worrying. Then the man pulls the hanky away from his lips and Izuku sees the red on it.

He rushes over to where the man is resting on the bench.

"Are you alright, Sir?"

Vivid green eyes meet sunken blue.


	3. Chapter 3

I am so sorry this to so long. This chapter thoroughly kicked my ass. Chewed it to pieces. Between holidays and writer's block, I didn't know if I'd ever get this done, but here it is folks.

* * *

Yagi Toshinori often stopped by the beach on his early morning strolls. He liked to just sit there and remember what it was like when it was clean and free of trash.

It was on one such morning that he found himself suffering a rather bad coughing fit. He could taste iron as blood crept up his throat.

He pulled his handkerchief from his pants pocket and pulled it to his mouth, catching the liquid as it was expelled from his mouth.

Toshinori set his hand back in his lap, handkerchief clenched in his hand. _It's been five years, _he thinks to himself. Five years since the fight that very nearly tore apart his insides. _I've become a mere shadow of the man I used to be._

A voice calling out to him brings Toshinori back to the present.

"Are you alright, Sir?"

He looks up at the boy making his way over. He looks to be around thirteen years old with bright green eyes and equally green hair. The boy's face has a smattering of freckles over his cheeks and nose and looks flushed as though he had been running for a while.

Toshinori gives him a wan smile, "Ah yes, quite alright, my boy."

The boy looks like he doesn't quite believe him, though prys no further.

"So, what is a young man like yourself doing out here at this early hour?"

੦

Izuku heaves a sigh as he plops himself onto the bench overlooking the beach. He'd been carting around any piece of garbage he could carry since seven thirty, only taking a break to eat lunch with Mr. Yagi around noon. Izuku was quite tired to say the least.

Reaching into his workout bag sitting next to him, he pulls out his phone to check the time. It's just creeping up on five o'clock.

Izuku looks up to see Mr. Yagi making his way towards him.

"You've been making good progress, Young Midoriya, you should be proud," Yagi tells him as he lowers onto the bench next to him.

Looking at the surf you could see a couple of patches of clear sand. Places where he slaved away trying to reduce the amount of rubbish piled on the shore.

"I am," Izuku says, smiling up at Mr. Yagi. Then the corners of his lips turn down, "I just don't know if it's gonna be enough. Being strong is great and all, but I need to know how to use that strength if I'm going to be useful as a hero."

Mr. Yagi gives a thoughtful hum and a nod.

"That does indeed sound like a conversation we need to have soon," He tells Izuku with a smile on his gaunt face, "But I fear it is becoming time for you to get home for dinner."

A memory from this morning springs to the forefront of Izuku's mind.

**Flashback**

"_Izuku, you should ask Mr. Yagi to come over for dinner tonight."_

_Izuku almost choked at the sudden comment._

"_It's just that he's been training you for a couple weeks now and I still haven't met him yet," his mother continued, a careful smile on her face._ "_I want to thank him for taking the time to train you. It really is very nice of him."_

_Izuku's eyes lifted to meet his mother's and he could see the unshed tears being held there._

"_And you've also been looking a lot happier lately."_

_His throat tightened and he swallowed thickly, "Yeah. Yeah, I can do that."_

**End Flashback**

"Or maybe we could talk about it over dinner?" The question falls from Izuku's mouth before he can think about it. "I mean, my mom wanted me to invite you over for dinner tonight. That is if you don't have any other plans for the night. It's just that Mom wants to meet you and so she asked me to ask you. But only if you want to."

Words continue to tumble from his mouth until he feels a heavy hand land on his shoulder.

"Young Midoriya, I'd be delighted to have dinner with you and your mother," Mr. Yagi beams, "Though we should probably leave now if we want to make it there in a timely manner."

Izuku grins at him and with a nod of his head he grabs his bag and they stand to make their way to the Midoriya household.

The walk back is quiet yet comfortable, and soon enough the pair are at the door to Izuku's home.

"I'm home," he announces as he opens the door and steps through the threshold.

Behind him Mr. Yagi steps into the apartment.

"Sorry for intruding," He calls out.

Midoriya Inko steps out of the kitchen to greet them.

"Oh, it's so great to finally meet you Mr. Yagi. You've been taking such wonderful care of my little Izuku," she tells him with a slight bow. She then shakes the hand he held out to her with a bright smile.

"Please," Mr. Yagi urges, "Call me Toshinori."

"Then I insist you call me Inko," Izuku's mother replies, face still beaming. "I hope you both are hungry, I'm making katsudon for dinner."

੦

"Izuku, Dear, could you start on the dishes while I walk Toshinori to the door?" Inko makes sure to phrase her sentence as a question.

It had been hard to adjust when her little Izuku came home with a quirk when he was six. The learning curve had been steep. Whereas once, telling her son to do something was normal for being a mother, after his quirk developed it was taking away his free will.

Finding out what Izuku's quirk did was particularly devastating for Inko. She knew her baby would have a difficult life ahead of him. She tried to make it as easy as possible for him, even going so far as to learn sign language together in the early years of having his quirk. It had been especially useful when Inko had been relearning how to speak to her son.

When she found out that her son wasn't giving up on his dream to be a hero it had scared her at first, but mostly she was just so proud of him.

"Thank you so much for dinner, Inko. I'm sorry I couldn't enjoy it to the fullest." And then there was this man. Toshinori had taken Izuku under his wing and now her son was the happiest she'd ever seen him.

"I'm sorry you had to eat just plain rice," Inko apologises as they stand from their seats. "I would have fixed something else if I had known about your dietary restrictions."

"No worries. The company was delightful all the same."

He smiles down at her and she can't help but think, _What a beautiful smile._

They walk in silence as they make their way to the door.

As Inko reaches the genkan, she turns to say-

"Thanks again for having me over, it's been a lovely night."

She blinks. A giggle escapes her as she raises a hand to cover her mouth.

"_Thank you_ for taking such good care of my son." Inko's grin mellows into a soft smile as she bows deep at the waist.

੦

Izuku tries to calm his nerves as he opens the door to the dojo he'd signed up for. This was the place Mr. Yagi had recommended to him. He'd said that the sensei was an old friend and a retired hero to boot, so she definitely knows her stuff.

Izuku walks over to the front desk and the rather colorful lady behind the counter directs him down the hall to where he'd meet his new sensei.

He can see that this particular dojo has a more modern design. There are more bright colors and an open atmosphere than neutral browns and traditional stiffness. The welcoming environment settles his nerves as he walks through the building.

Turning the corner into the large training room, Izuku sees a woman in a traditional gi turning from her place at the front to look at him. He can feel his little fanboy heart jump a little as he recognises just who this woman is.

"Morning Star!" Izuku blurts out before he can stop himself.

The woman lets out a hearty laugh as she makes her way over to him, her long silky black hair flying in its tight ponytail on top of her head. Izuku's hands fly up to cover his mouth in an attempt to keep his rampant thoughts from spilling out. He can feel his entire face turn red.

"That's right!" She cheers, a bright grin on her heart-shaped face. "But let's just stick with Kaho-Sensei. I am retired after all. Most people don't even remember me as a hero anymore."

Izuku catches a glimpse of sadness in Kaho-Sensei's garnet eyes before they spring back to kind and happy.

"My name is Kaho Hanabi and I'll be your sensei from now on. Because you are so new to martial arts, I'm going to pair you up with one of my more experienced students to show you the ropes."

"Oh, I wouldn't want to drag anyone down," Izuku starts, "I'd just be a burden to their own learning."

"Nonsense! It's always good to go back to the basics. Now let me introduce you to Ojiro. He's been coming to my dojo since he was four years old."

੦

Katsuki could tell something was up. He may be a little hot-headed, he'd admit, but he wasn't fucking dumb. Something was up with that shitty nerd and he was going to find out.

For the past several months Deku would rush out of the classroom as soon as school was over. Not because of anything he was doing. He would never admit it to anybody, but he still felt terribly guilty from their little episode on the roof. Katsuki had been leaving the boy mostly alone while at school. Sometimes he would even find himself discouraging the other more vocal bullies from picking on Deku.

He hadn't been seeing the nerd on the weekends either. Not since the day they had experimented with the limitations of his quirk.

Katsuki thought back to when he believed Deku's quirk was simple. Once when they were children he had tried to force the little nerd to only follow his commands. That hadn't lasted very long though. They found out later that day that Izuku literally had to listen to every command given to him.

If Katsuki was anything, it was self aware. He was a fucking asshole.

The ring of the school bell brings Katsuki out of his thoughts. Out of the corner of his eye he can see Deku shoving his crap into his backpack. Quickly, he does the same, and watches as the damn nerd books it out of the classroom.

Katsuki keeps his distance as he follows the boy out of the school and down the street. Deku is moving at a swift walk. Katsuki can tell he's not in any real rush, just very excited if the bounce in his step is anything to go by.

They are about five minutes past the Midoriya home when he recognises just where he is. Katsuki can see the beach just around the bend.

The nerd is already there by the time Katsuki is close enough to see what's going on. There's a man talking to Deku. Well, less a man and more a walking skeleton. The skeleton gives him a smile and waves him off towards the garbage piles.

He watches as Izuku goes to pick up a large metal filing cabinet.

_There's no way that shitty Deku could lift that,_ He thinks to himself. He's about to rush over to tell the boy off when he remembers their last PE class they'd had together.

Deku had been taking off his shirt to change into his PE clothes. That's when Katsuki noticed. it wasn't a huge change, rather subtle actually, but he could see it. Izuku's arms and shoulders weren't thin and boney anymore. They were filling out with muscle.

_So this is what the nerd's been doing._ Katsuki turns around and is about to walk away when he hears his name being called.

"Kacchan!"

Katsuki sighs and turns to walk towards Deku and the skeleton.

"Kacchan, I'd like you to meet my trainer. He's been helping me get ready for the UA entrance exams."

Katsuki narrows his eyes at the spindly man in front of him.

"Hello, my boy. My name is Yagi Toshinori. It's wonderful to meet you."

Yeah. He'll just stick with Skeleton.


End file.
